The following example demonstrates how to express a simple credential that contains one Verifiable Claim about a particular Digital Identity. In this case, the claim is that the entity with the Digital Identity identified by did:ebfeb1f712ebc6f1c276e12ec21 is 21 years of age or older. While a human reading the property ageOver may be able to guess its meaning by its name, the context maps it a global identifier (URL) where a document could be retrieved that provides its semantics in a machine-readable data format. There is also information about the credential itself, such as an identifier for the entity that issued it and a date for when it was issued. The credential contains a signature that can be used to verify its entire contents, including the claim.

The following example demonstrates how to express one or more credentials along with an identity. This approach allows one to express an identity and some credentials that assert certain properties about it without losing data fidelity.

Because Linked Data is a graph-based format and credentials have been digitally-signed as independent graphs of information, they are expressed using the @graph keyword. An application that receives an identity in this format can be ensured that the credential data won't be accidentally mixed with data in any other graphs in the identity document. Once the application has verified the digital Signatures in each credential, it can safely merge all of the claim data into a single graph of information about the identity.